Tag Archives: pitching

“Pointers from the Pros” gives tips from authors and publishing industry professionals on everything from craft to querying to their experiences on the road to publication.*

I attended the 38th annual Society of Southwestern Authors’ Wrangling with Writing conference in Tuscon, Ariz., in September. Although I couldn’t go to all the faboo sessions being offered, I took a ton of notes at those I was lucky enough to attend—and I’m sharing some of those tips with my lovely blog readers. (Thanks for being so fabulous, BTW!)

Here is what Guide to Literary Agents editor and Class-1 Gnome-Slayer Chuck Sambuchino had to say in “Pitching Agents in Person”:

You should be done in 60 sec. Generally, this gives them time to ask questions, etc.

You pitch can be anywhere from 3-10 sentences.

A pitch is NOT a synopsis. He points to the backs of DVD boxes, Netflix descriptions, and book jacket flap covers as examples of short pitches yours should emulate.

DO

Introduce yourself and state any connections you might have to the agent right away.

It’s not like a query letter pitch, where they can read things again if it’s confusing, so be as clear as possible.

Give the logline first (a one-sentence description of your manuscript so they understand what it is right away) Then, you can go into the details.

State the genre, word count—especially if it’s appropriate to your genre—the title, and that it’s complete.

Start with your main character. He says sometimes there is a tendency for writers (especially in sci-fi/fantasy—really, anything with a lot of worldbuilding in it) to begin with setting, but he urges you to start with the main character (MC) and get to the inciting incident. This propels your book forward—gives the conflict. What goes wrong? Every story is about something going wrong, he says.

Show the arc of the character in the pitch—we need to see the character changing.

Introduce the antagonist as well. Show how the MC and antag clash.

If you are unsure of your genre, just take a stab at it. Sometimes agents will see your book in a different genre than you anyway.

Make sure the agent you’re pitching reps the kind of project you are pitching.

After the pitch, then get to the bio stuff—organizations you are part of, previous publications, awards, etc. If you’ve ever been paid to write, say it—if you don’t have any previous publications, just don’t say anything about that. They should be interested enough in your book without that stuff (the bio stuff), so don’t stress if you don’t have it. The important thing is to mention whatever you have done quickly and humbly.

Memorize your pitch, but make it more conversational. Agents are people. It’s awkward if you just read something or rattle off something you’ve memorized.

Pitch them one project.

DON’T

Don’t give away the ending. A pitch is designed to pique interest. The agent *could* ask for the ending, after your pitch, but don’t offer it unless they’ve asked.

Don’t say it’s a series unless they ask.

Don’t be general (“highs and lows”—“twists and turns”—“circumstances out of their control”—“sequence of events”). Give them something specific and concrete. (In his book, Save the Cat, the late screenwriter Blake Snyder talks about the “promise of the premise”—when you say what the story is about, scenes pop into the audience’s head—you guess what will happen. Chuck says, make your pitch delivers on these things.)

These tend to be dry—they’re not designed to be entertaining. So, talk about what makes the book unique or memorable.

You HAVE to have platform here. Who are you? What have you done? Why are you the person to write this book? Are you an expert in the field? A speaker? Do you have leadership roles with something connected to the subject matter? Previous publications?

When pitching memoir, try not to focus on the sad details too much. Show how it can transcend to more than just people with that experience only. Show it’s a story about X, but it’s more than that. It can reach more of an audience.

QUESTIONS FROM THE CLASS

Q: Should you say it’s similar to a bestseller?

A: It’s tricky. If you do, avoid all the clichés—(Harry Potter, Twilight, The DaVinci Code, Eat Pray Love). It’s probably better to say it’s X meets Y. However, this can come off as kind of egotistical as well, depending on what you’re comparing it to.

Q: Should you pitch a short story collection?

A: Generally, no. If you have those, you’re better off networking with them at conference—getting your face in their memory for when you query them with it later. While we’re at it, don’t pitch articles or poetry collections in-person either.

Here, author and speaker Jody Hedlund makes a case for blogging—and how it can help any kind of writer.

YOU’RE GROUNDED!

This post goes along with the one from the last “In the Blogosphere” post (about the “prime real estate” of your manuscript). In it, the awesome Mary Kole talks about grounding the reader in all things your story—in every chapter.

Here, the Kole-ster does it again (that was supposed to be pronounced “KOLE-stur,” but, admittedly, looks like “molester.” And kind of made me chuckle too much to fix.* Sorry, MK!) , answering questions about international writers and settings.

“In the Blogosphere” is a series, which lists links to writing-related blogs I’ve stumbled upon throughout a given week (usually).

I’m admittedly behind with my Blogosphere posts—I have about 50 links saved, dating all the way back to June (oh noes!)—but they are all still worth a look. I’ll catch up eventually, right?

GET WRITING!

My weekend plans fell through, so now I will be sitting at home [probably with all the lights on all weekend because this will be the first time I’m staying home alone at my house—how lame am I?] with my computer and my beagle. Which, as much as I love them both, can also both be time sucks! But I’m buzzing on my WIP right now and would LOVE to get to 30,000 words by Sunday. It will be a bit of a challenge, but I’m up for it.

Adorable little baby time suck. And a bunch of crap she'd dragged out everywhere and was chewing up. (And my husband's foot.)

All-grown-up time suck. 🙂

That said, here are some resources—some of which I’ve used and some of which I haven’t yet but might have to employ this weekend, in order to get words written.

Write or Die—You can set your word count and your time goals, and this interface will get IN YOUR FACE [well, if you set it that way] until you reach your targets.

WriteRoom—This is for Mac users. It’s a full-screen writing environment that rids you of the “clutter” of word processing programs. [Referred to by The New York Times as the “ultimate spartan writing utopia.”]

WordWatchers—This has been working for me this month—and this isn’t just shameless self-promotion, as a number of writers have been getting tremendous amounts of work done using this writing program. It’s through The Write-Brained Network and, like its sister weight-loss program, is something each individual designs to fit his or her lifestyle. All us Write-Brainiacs participating have set challenging goals, and while we haven’t all been hitting them each week [guilty!] we have been getting tons of work done. And, some people have finished entire projects or gotten over slumps, due to the prodding encouragement of others.

Social media got you down? [If you’re Greyhaus Literary’s Scott Eagan, then yes.] Author Jody Hedlundoffers some advice on how to use it effectively without allowing it to take over your life—and writing time.

You know, I sort of think this is kind of a fabulous blog post. Writer and part-time doctor Lydia Kang of The Word is My Oyster says: Stop apologizing! Chuck that qualifying language and strengthen your writing.

I’m a little behind with my Blogosphere posts—I saved this one two months ago!!—but it’s too good not to share. Young adult fantasy author Jodi Meadows of the Query Projectgave us a gift on her birthday: the query she wrote for Erin Incarnate that helped her snag fab agent Lauren MacLeod of the Strothman Agency.

If you’re looking for something just as satisfying but a little more flexible and a little more long-term, check out my new writing SWO program, WordWatchers. Pick a weekly word count goal, and divvy up the words written per day in a way that fits your schedule!

OMG

In honor of Eclipse coming out this week . . . if you thought the people who stand in lines for twelve hours to see the Twilight movies were wonky, you weren’t wrong—but there are wonkier folks out there. Here, Great White Snark gives us a dozen such psychopaths.

Each year, the Southeastern Writers Association conference hosts one agent in residence; this year, Katharine Sands of Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency will hold that spot.

Sands

As an agent, Sands represents authors in a variety of areas, including: literary and commercial fiction as well as nonfiction projects dealing with food/lifestyle, self-help, cooking, travel, spirituality, pop culture, film/entertainment, humor and home/design.

In addition to taking on and working with clients, Sands wrote Making the Perfect Pitch: Advice from 45 Top Book Agents (Kalmbach), which compiles pitching advice from several of the industry’s top agents.

At the conference in June, Sands will be teaching a class called “Pitchcraft . . . and Querial Killers: How Not to Get an Agent, Even If You Are a Talented Writer.” As well, she will hear pitches in one-on-one sessions and work with writers in group critique classes during the latter half of the program.

THE INTERVIEW

One of last year’s SWA presenters, editor Chuck Sambuchino of Writer’s Digest Books, posted a great interview with Sands on his Guide to Literary Agents blog.

Here is an excerpt:

GLA: Speaking of meeting writers at conferences, what do you think is the most common mistake writers make when they give a short in-person pitch to an agent?

KS: One of the things I believe people do wrong is to speak to agents as they would a tax professional or lawyer – somebody for hire who is there to listen to their process and backstory and get involved with their case in that way. Agents are listening in for a reason to be interested, first and foremost, and they’re not going to be interested in the writer’s (process), the word count, what is impeding, or why the writer doesn’t want to do extra work.